Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary

This feast probably originated after the Council of Ephesus in 431, which established her right to the title of “Mother of God.” It was first mentioned in a hymn composed by Saint Romanus, an ecclesiastical lyrist of the Greek Church and adopted by the Roman Church in the 17th century.

Ant. Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, proclaims joy to the whole world, for from you arose the glorious Sun of Justice, Christ our God; he freed us from the age-old curse and filled us with holiness; he destroyed death and gave us eternal life.